Stackable housings for electronic equipment

ABSTRACT

A stackable housing for electronic equipment and the like, characterised in that a first housing is provided at its bottom with shoulder means adapted for pivotal connection with corresponding means on the upper forward edge portion of a second housing arranged therebeneath. Snap-lock means are provided for removably connecting another lower portion of the first housing with another upper portion of the second housing, thereby locking said housings against sliding movement relative to each other.

United States Patent [191 Lang et a1, 5] Jan. 1, 1974 STACKABLE HOUSINGSFOR 3,424,334 1/1969 GOlllZ 220/23.6

ELEC EQUIPMENT 3,518,728 7/1970 Phillips 220/23.6 2,046,095 6/1936 Shaw220/97 R ux 1 Inventors: Karl g, Uerikon; Hans Steiner, 2,493,163 1/1950Rausing 220/97 R 'Greifensee, both of Switzerland 3,416,655 12/1968Shiffman 206/4524 [73] Assignee: Mettler Instrumente AG, Zurich,

Switzerland Primary Examiner-George E. Lowrance Filed. y 21 1971Attorney-Lawrence E. Laubscher [2]] Appl. No.: 145,723

[57] ABSTRACT 30 Foreign Application Priority Data A stackable housingfor electronic equipment and the June 18 1970 Switzerland 8884/70 like,characterised 1n that a first housmg 15 provided at its bottom withshoulder means adapted for pivotal s2 U.S.C1l 220/97 R connectim withcorresponding means 9 the upper 51 1m. (:1 B65d 21/02 forward edge a56mm f arranged [58] Field 61 Search 220/4 D, 23.6, 97 R, therebeneath'snap'mk means, f 220/97 206/4524 movably connecting another lowerportion of the first housing with another upper portion of the second[56] Referevnces Cited housing, thereby locking said housings againstsliding UNITED STATES PATENTS movement relative to each other.

2,988,412 Vannice 220/97 R 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures I III PATENTEDJAN1 I974 SHEET 1 OF 2 Fig] MW 2% m 7 T L$ 5M x W m, B

PATENTEDJAN H914 3,782,589

SHEET 2 [1F 2 Iuvemro is i Kmu, LAM/5.

#mvs STEM/15R This invention relates generally to stackable housings forelectronic equipment. When constructing measuring, control andregulating systems and similar arrangements, the requirement frequentlyarises of connecting in a building block manner further units to a basicunit already provided. Preferably this is accomplished in such a mannerthat the individual units, each disposed in a housing, are fitted oneabove the other and can be separated again without difficulty.

This arrangement gives rise to the problem, however, of securing theindividual housings in position relative to each other. For thispurpose, many housings are simply provided with rubber feet, but thesedo not satisfactorily achieve the desired purpose, inter alia for thereason that there is no positive location when stacking a plurality ofhousings. The individual housings must be aligned by hand and eye but,nonetheless, are then not sufficiently prevented from slipping (forexample, when subjected to vibration).

Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide astackable housing for electronic equipment, comprising top, bottom andwall portions, a lower edge of the housing being so constructed thatwhen it co-operates with an upper edge of a second housing said loweredge acts as a pivot mounting, at least one snap lock means beingprovided which, after engagement, grips an upper edge portion of thesecond housing such that further pivotal movementof the two housingsrelative to each other is prevented.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a housing whichcan be used individually or can be stacked with further similar housingsto form a system; When the housings are stacked they can be secured inposition in all directions without the assistance of aditional means.The exteriors of the housings can of course be made of pleasingappearance.

A preferred embodiment of the housing according to the invention has atthe lower edge of its forward side a retaining bar which both acts as asupport and also, by means of a groove formed therein, engages aroundthe slightly projecting forward portion of the cover plate of a housingbelow the first mentioned housing. The retaining bar extends over theentire inside width of the housing and in this way, in conjunction withthe forwardly extended side walls, prevents the housing being displacedlaterally. If the retaining bar is ofa suitable coniiguration, it can beused at the same time as a symbol-bearing panel, for example forcarrying typed designations etc, by means of adhesive label strips.

Disposed at the rearward lower edge is at least one, but preferably two,supports each of which incorporate a snap lock including an elementwhich is pivotable about a pin disposed adjacent the centre of theelement and which is urged away from the housing at the top (forexample, by a leaf spring) and is thus urged towards the housing at thebottom. This element engages a slightly projecting edge portion of thecover plate of a housing located therebelow. The lower edge of thepivotable element preferably terminates above the stationary surface ofthe rigid part of the supports, in order to prevent loading of the pivotpin of an individual housing or a lowermost housing.

In a further embodiment of the housing according to the invention, thereis provided a pivotable support bar which, when not in use, ispreferably held against the underside of the housing by suitable designof 'the bar and its mountings. The support bar makes it possible, whenrequired, for the individual housing or the group of housings to be setup in an inclined position at a given angle, thereby permitting easierreading or operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent froma study of the following specification when considered with reference tothe accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 shows a bottom plan view ofthe housing FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line ll-II of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an elevation view of a rearward support foot,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section taken on line lV--lV of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of two stacked housings.

The sections of FIGS. 2 and 4 are drawn such as to correspond to thenormal position of the housing.

Referring now to the drawings, the housing'comprises a combined base andrear plate 8, a front plate 9 and a cover plate 10 which includesorthogonally arranged flange portions that define the sides of thehousing. The cover plate 10 is of a configuration such that both at thetop and at the sides it includes edge portions that extend forwardly andrearwardly by a few millimeters beyond the front and rear faces. Thefront plate 9 carries operating or indication elements, while the rearplate 8 carries the necessary plug and socket connections.

The front plate 9 and the cover plate 10 are secured to the base plate 8by screws 11 and 12 which pass through spot-welded angle plates 13. Thescrews 11 also hold a retaining bar 14 which pivotally carries a supportbar 16 in partly closed recesses 15. The sup port bar 16 is pivotableabout its two retained end portions 17 (FIG. 2) and is fixed in its:horizontal rest position by the recessed portions 18 in the open part ofthe recesses 15, by virtue of its spread action after insertion under aninitial stress (FIG. 4).

In addition to a support portion 19 which acts as a foot, the retainingbar 14 also has a symbol-bearing panel 20 and a groove 21 in which, whena plurality of housings are set one upon the other, the forwardlyprojecting part of the cover plate 10 of the next lower housing is held.The length of the retaining bar 14 substantially corresponds to theinside measurement between the flange portions of the cover plate 10which partly overlap the retaining bar 14, so that the housings are heldlaterally relative to each other.

Two feet 22 are secured by respective screws 23 to the rear of the baseplate 8 at the outer ends thereof, each foot 22 lying against the inwardside of the flange portions of the cover plate 10. Associated with eachfoot 22 is snap lock means formed by a pin 24 on which there ispivotally mounted a retaining element 26 which has a projecting lug 25and which is arranged in a corresponding central recess in the foot 22.Clamped between the foot 22 and the base and rear plate 8, and held inposition by the screw 23, is a leaf spring 27 which urges the upperportion 28 of the retaining element 26 outwardly and thus the lowerportion carrying the lug 25 inwardly into engagement with the coverplate 10 of the lower housing, thereby urging the above mentioned lowerportion against the lower housing.

Thus, when a plurality of housings are stacked one upon the other, theyare secured in position by the snap locks and the groove 21 in theretaining bar 14.

In order to place a further housing upon a lower housing, the formerhousing is moved, in a slightly inclined position, rearwardly towardsthe lower housing until the groove 21 engages into the cover plate ofthe lower housing, whereupon the first mentioned housing is pivotedabout the groove 21 until snap lock means are snapped into position.

To remove an upper housing, the upper portion of the two retainingelements 26 are pressed slightly inwardly (that is, towards the housing)against the spring force of the leaf springs 27, whereupon the housingis slightly lifted at the back and drawn forwardly so that it comes outof the retaining groove 21, and then is lifted off.

When setting up only a single housing, or in the case of the lowermosthousing when a plurality of housings are stacked one upon the other, thepins 24 are not subjected to load as the lower portion carrying the lug25 is so constructed that it has a certain ground clearance relative tothe support surfaces of the feet 22 (FIG. 3).

In order to improve the slip-proof capacity of the housings on a smoothsupport surface, the supports 16 can be provided with non-slip rings 29,comprising for example rubber (FIG. 1).

Various modifications can be made without departing from the inventionas defined by the appended claims. Thus, for example, instead of asingle continuous retaining bar 14, there could be provided two or morecorrespondingly shaped individual retainers. It would also be possiblefor the snap locks to be positioned at the sides and co-operate with asuitably shaped cover plate, when for example the rear plate is to bekept entirely free for plug and socket connections. Other modificationsmay be made in the described apparatus without deviating from theinventive concept.

What is claimed is:

I. A stackable housing for electronic equipment, comprising a. a firsthousing having bottom, front, side, rear and top walls, said top andside walls projecting forwardly slightly beyond said front wall, saidtop wall projecting forwardly slightly beyond said rear wall;

and b. means for interconnecting said first housing with a similarsecond housing arranged in stacked relationship therebeneath, saidinterconnecting means including 1. shoulder means on said first housingfor pivotally connecting the forward portions of said first and secondhousings, said shoulder means including a depending retaining barconnected with the forward portion of said bottom wall and containing arearwardly facing groove for pivotally receiving the forwardlyprojecting top wall portion of the second housing, said retaining barterminating at both ends in juxtaposition to the forwardly projectingside wall portion of said second housing, respectively, therebyretaining said base in fixed lateral position with respect to the secondhousing; and 2. snap lock means for releasably locking the rear portionof said first housing with the rearwardly projecting top wall portion ofsaid second housing, said snap lock means including a. at least onecentrally pivoted retaining element having a lug on the lower end, andb. spring means for biasing said retaining element toward a position inwhich said lug hooks over the rearward lip of the second housing topwall and for permitting said retaining element to be manually rotated toa position in which said lug clears the rearward lip of the secondhousing top wall when said base is rotated about the forward lip of thesecond housing.

2. A stackable housing as defined in claim 1, wherein said retaining barincludes front foot means for engaging a first supporting surface tospace the front portion of said base a predetermined distance from thefirst supporting surface, and further wherein said snap lock meansincludes rear foot means for engaging a second supporting surface tospace the rear portion of said base at said predetermined distance fromthe second supporting surface, said rear foot means including a pair offoot elements extending below the lower most extremities of saidretaining element.

3. A stackable housing as defined in claim I, wherein said snap lockmeans includes a pair of centrally pivoted retaining elements.

1. A stackable housing for electronic equipment, comprising a. a firsthousing having bottom, front, side, rear and top walls, said top andside walls projecting forwardly slightly beyond said front wall, saidtop wall projecting forwardly slightly beyond said rear wall; and b.means for interconnecting said first housing with a similar secondhousing arranged in stacked relationship therebeneath, saidinterconnecting means including
 1. shoulder means on said first housingfor pivotally connecting the forward portions of said first and secondhousings, said shoulder means including a depending retaining barconnected with the forward portion of said bottom wall and containing arearwardly facing groove for pivotally receiving the forwardlyprojecting top wall portion of the second housing, said retaining barterminating at both ends in juxtaposition to the forwardly projectingside wall portion of said second housing, respectively, therebyretaining said base in fixed lateral position with respect to the secondhousing; and
 2. snap lock means for releasably locking the rear portionof said first housing with the rearwardly projecting top wall portion ofsaid second housing, said snap lock means including a. at least onecentrally pivoted retaining element having a lug on the lower end, andb. spring means for biasing said retaining element toward a position inwhich said lug hooks over the rearward lip of the second housing topwall and for permitting said retaining element to be manually rotated toa position in which said lug clears the rearward lip of the secondhousing top wall when said base is rotated about the forward lip of thesecond housing.
 2. snap lock means for releasably locking the rearportion of said first housing with the rearwardly projecting top wallportion of said second housing, said snap lock means including a. atleast one centrally pivoted retaining element having a lug on the lowerend, and b. spring means for biasing said retaining element toward aposition in which said lug hooks over the rearward lip of the secondhousing top wall and for permitting said retaining element to bemanually rotated to a position in which said lug clears the rearward lipof the second housing top wall when said base is rotated about theforward lip of the second housing.
 2. A stackable housing as defined inclaim 1, wherein said retaining bar includes front foot means forengaging a first supporting surface to space the front portion of saidbase a predetermined distance from the first supporting surface, andfurther wherein said snap lock means includes rear foot means forengaging a second supporting surface to space the rear portion of saidbase at said predeterminEd distance from the second supporting surface,said rear foot means including a pair of foot elements extending belowthe lower most extremities of said retaining element.
 3. A stackablehousing as defined in claim 1, wherein said snap lock means includes apair of centrally pivoted retaining elements.